St Clears Castle: A Norman Motte-and-Bailey Fortress in Wales
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Norman
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page7 sections
History
St Clears Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey fortress in the United Kingdom, probably founded in the late eleventh century during the Norman conquest of Wales. Its establishment is associated with the priory founded at St Clears around 1100. Built at the confluence of the Taf and Cynin rivers, the castle controlled a location whose waterways were probably navigable by boat during the medieval period.
Welsh and Anglo-Norman control
The castle is probably identifiable with Ystrad Cyngen, a fortress captured in 1153 by Rhys ap Gruffydd, the prince of Deheubarth, one of the major medieval Welsh principalities. Rhys seized it again in 1189 and granted it to his son Hywel Sais. The Anglo-Norman baron William de Braose recaptured the stronghold in 1195.
During his campaign in South Wales in 1215, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, prince of Gwynedd, captured the castle. William Marshal recovered it for the English in 1223 during the Anglo-Welsh conflict. It remained under English control until the fourteenth century, when it gradually fell into decay.
The revolt of Owain Glyndŵr
In 1405, Owain Glyndŵr, the Welsh nobleman who led a major revolt against English rule, besieged and captured St Clears Castle and Carmarthen Castle. English forces defeated the rebels at St Clears the following year and compelled the surrender of the castle. St Clears Castle was abandoned after 1406 and subsequently fell into complete ruin.
The site is protected as a Scheduled Monument, a legally protected archaeological or historic site considered nationally important to preserve.
Remains
Layout and defensive works
The castle followed the motte-and-bailey plan, combining a raised defensive mound with an adjoining enclosed courtyard. The motte occupies the northern part of the former castle, while a large bailey extended to the south. Together, the motte and bailey were enclosed within a defensive system measuring approximately 70 by 45 metres, formed by a ditch, bank, and palisade.
The motte
The surviving motte is a substantial artificial mound with an oval plan. It measures approximately 38 by 48 metres and rises 12 metres above the surrounding ground. Its summit measures about 10 by 15 metres. Wooden fortifications probably stood on the summit originally, but these were likely replaced by stone buildings during the medieval period. No remains of the stone structures survive.
The bailey
The southern bailey formed the castle’s enclosed courtyard and was entered through a stone gatehouse. It probably contained the service buildings as well as an Anglo-Norman settlement. The surviving remains of this part of the castle consist chiefly of the bailey ground and its relationship to the motte and surrounding earthworks.
The castle site lies about 200 metres south of the parish church and is now surrounded by residential houses. Its principal surviving features are therefore the artificial motte, the surrounding ditch, and the ground of the southern bailey.
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